Nova: A Scifi Alien Romance (Rebel Lords) (11 page)

N
ova led
us back to his hut, his hand actually holding mine as we walked through the village. My heart was still racing from it all. I couldn’t believe I had actually ran back to him, and that he and his people actually listened to me. And jumping through the trees had been completely terrifying as shelling sounded in the background; each time Nova leaped between trees I was sure that a stray bullet would get him or me. But, the man had moved swiftly and gracefully through the leaves and branches, returning us to safety. And as we walked hand-in-hand through the village, many eyes were on us—I knew it was from confusion as to why I was back, and why we were holding hands rather than me being tied. But Nova walked confidently and briskly to his hut, immediately pulling me inside and shutting the door. There were no words exchanged before his lips were on mine, his hands going to the small of my back and pulling me against his body.

His kiss was borderline desperation, mixed with hunger and passion; his tongue immediately intertwining with mine. I kissed him back, my lips moving against his with fervor and fire. Nova’s hands gripped at my back before sliding down over my body, gripping and exploring every inch. The kiss was ended when he pulled away suddenly. His hand found mine again and he tugged me back into the bedroom. When we approached the foot of the bed, he turned back to me and picked me up by the hips. Nova held me against his body as he moved onto the bed, placing me down gently on the blankets. Then the kissing resumed with the same intensity as before.

I pulled away then, my lips going to his neck, kissing and sucking at spots I remembered which wound him up from previous encounters. Nova let out a shaky breath as I did, a groan then erupting from the back of his throat. He was quick to move his hands to my pants, hurriedly unfastening them and pulling them down; I kicked my shoes off as he did. As my lips met the crook of his neck, nibbling gently just above his collarbone, Nova ripped my panties at my sides, discarding the torn fabric. He then barely shrugged down his shorts, just enough to let free his erect cock before he spread my legs. Wrapping my legs around him, his arms went around me, holding me to him as he thrusted himself into me.

I had no idea just how aroused I was until I felt his cock fill my pussy, a moan slipping from my lips and against the skin of his neck. Nova didn’t hold back, completely fueled by raw emotions as he thrusted in and out. I moved my hips against his, sending him deeper into me with every thrust he made. Nova nuzzled his head down, motioning for me to get away from his neck. As I moved my head, his lips returned to mine. He kissed me senselessly as his arms grew tighter around me. It was rough and fast, but completely and utterly perfect. I didn’t realize how badly I craved him until it was too late. As his hips rocked into mine, filling my body with endless ecstasy, I knew he was the only one my heart and body wanted.

Nova’s hand came back from around my back and gripped my shirt, ripping it open causing buttons to pop of and fly out in every direction. I sat up a bit as he pulled it from my arms; Nova reached around me and unfastened my bra and discarded that as well before letting me lay back down. His lips showered my chest in kisses as he continued to move his hips against mine. Nova reached and grabbed my legs to turn me at an angle before thrusting back in, the tip of his cock hitting a spot of sheer pleasure. I felt breathless as he continued to pound away at the spot, never letting up as he held me against his body, his lips covering my chest.

My walls began to constrict around him as the pleasure became too much for my body, my hips still moving against his. His cock began to vibrate lightly at the sensation. His lips moved to one of my nipples, taking the rosy bud into his mouth. He swirled his tongue around it before flicking his tongue just over the tip and sucking on it softly. My hands gripped his back, moaning time and time again. As my hips bucked into his, Nova began moving his in a more ragged fashion. He would pull out slowly before dipping back in for just a second, then pull out again and ram back inside, hitting the sweet and tender spot. Both of us struggled to get full breaths of air as the vibrations grew stronger.

His pattern continued as he kissed his way to my left breast, pulling that nipple into his mouth as well. The vibrations were intense and strong, my sex gripping him with each movement he made. Soon, neither of us could seem to hold back from our climax anymore, my legs holding on tightly to him as I felt my entire body peak and then shudder as I released. Almost at the exact same time, Nova’s cock shook almost violently before he sent it completely in and released himself. His body collapsed against mine. I could feel his chest heaving as he laid over me, his head nestled against my neck.

After a few moments of collecting ourselves, Nova rolled off of me and laid next to me, tossing an arm over his forehead. I managed to catch my breath, letting out a sigh as I relaxed. After all of the stress, heartache, and tension those last couple of days, it was definitely needed. Once again, I felt almost connected with him. I sat up on the bed, stretching my arms. As I stretched, I felt his fingertips glide against the skin of my back, sending a shiver up my spine. My eyes gazed over to him to find him looking back at me with a look of adoration twinkling in his eyes. I couldn’t help but smile softly at it.

But then his expression dropped a bit, a sudden thought weighing heavily on his conscience. His eyes still held that look of fondness, but also held hurt and hesitance. Nova’s fingers idly drifted up and down my back as he began to speak, “So… did you want me to escort you back to Harp?” he asked, his voice meek.

I hedged a bit, looking away as I thought. When questioned, I realized that I didn’t know. While I longed to see my father and brother, and to let Ryan’s wife know what happened to him, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him to take me back. Sitting there trying to picture my life, I couldn’t see it without him—even if he did infuriate me. Nova challenged me, and that was something I had always wanted in a mate. Human men weren’t challenging in the way I wanted; I wanted to be challenged mentally and politically. The only challenge human men had ever given me in the past was the challenge of keeping them loyal. Something told me that wouldn’t be an issue with Nova. I nibbled on my bottom lip as I got lost in deep thought. Finally, I shook my head, “No, I don’t want to leave…” I told him, my eyes slowly moving to him. “I’d like to stay here with you,” I admitted, my cheeks turning a deep pink.

Nova sat up then, his eyes on me. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me into his side, “I would like that a lot,” he breathed to me. My eyes went to his, his citrine irises burning into mine. “I know… I know we haven’t exactly gotten along, and that things this past week have been muddled and confusing—but I have feelings for you. Strong feelings. My tribe has a prophecy about outsiders mating with leaders of our people, which leads to peace among the land. And the outsiders and the leaders are what we call fated mates, which is exactly what it sounds like. I don’t know if that means anything to you, but it means a lot to me. It explained to me what all was going on and the attraction I had for you. After realizing that and almost losing you… I’ve come to realize I love you, Julia. And I know I’ve had a fucked up way of showing it, but I do. I love you.”

There was a lump in my throat as I held back my tears, completely touched by his words. I couldn’t believe he had just uttered those words. And the thought of us being fated mates or whatever was shocking and scary, but it sort of made sense. From the beginning, even when we were at each other’s throats, there was an underlying attraction present. I had never been one to believe in destiny or fate, but maybe that’s what was pulling us to one another. I couldn’t even begin to try and understand the concept of the premise of fated mates, but I was sure with time I would grasp it.

All I knew in that moment, through all of the confusion and mixture of emotions, was that I did love him. That alone was a lot to take in. I sat in complete silence as I tried to process everything he had said on top of my own emotions. My head was foggy from the storm of new information and feelings. But once I had a minute to internalize everything and sort my own thoughts, my eyes lifted back to his. Nova’s eyes had grown washed with worry from my silence. My hand reached for his cheek, cradling it in the palm of my hand as I gazed at him with tears forming in the corner of my eyes. “I love you too,” I breathed. “I don’t know anything about fate and all of this, but from how I feel about you, it feels right. And the reason I told you to send me home in the first place was because I realized I had feelings for you, but didn’t want to cause you any distress. And I didn’t want your tribe to turn against you. I know how much they mean to you…”

As I held his face, his hand lifted to mine, holding my chin so that I couldn’t turn my gaze away from his, “
You
mean a lot to me,” he breathed. “My tribe has been my everything for years now, and just because I am dedicated and loyal to my tribe, doesn’t mean I couldn’t give you loyalty or dedication. And while they won’t be happy and some may try to revolt, I feel confident that everything will work out in the end. Once they understand we are truly fated mates, the majority of them will come around. I can handle the rest of them. Besides, we don’t have to go through it alone. A neighboring tribe, their leader has a human wife and a hybrid child. They have been seeking friendship from tribes, but before I was disgusted by their relationship and their mission of peace. But now that I am beginning to understand my love for you… I can see how they fell for one another. It’s something none of us can control, but it is what we are destined to do. We can seek their guidance and perhaps gain an alliance with them. I’d be willing to try if it meant keeping you here.”

There already was a Navani and human couple? And they had a child? It was a little bit of a shell-shock to hear at first, but once the initial shock ended, it was actually a bit of a relief. Knowing someone had already gone through it, and that we could turn to them for help, was comforting; it was nice to feel like we could possibly have some support. My hand lowered from his face and held his hand. His large red hand closed around mine. “Are you sure about all this? I really don’t want to be the cause of any sort of trouble in your tribe…”

Nova’s eyes held mine, “Any trouble caused by your mere presence here is trouble I’m willing to deal with. I already almost lost you once, and I don’t want to experience that feeling again. I mean it when I say I love you. And while it’s hard to adjust to, I want to embrace it and all the changes which come with it. You are worth it. Even though I want to sew your mouth shut sometimes, I want you to be mine and stay mine,” Nova smiled a bit when he mentioned wanting to sew my mouth closed, causing me to smile back.

I leaned into him then, kissing his lips sweetly. His large hand laid flat against my back, holding me to him. As we sat together, holding one another, kissing, a realization came upon me. It had felt like everything was ending the last couple of days, but with us finally admitting our feelings to one another, I realized that it wasn’t like that. It wasn’t the end, but a new beginning. The beginning of our lives together.

A
fter a few days
of complete and utter chaos, the tribe seemed to settle. Announcing that Julia was my fated mate caused a complete uproar, a revolt almost instantly taking place—led of course by the two warriors who had just returned from captivity. I understood their frustration and their disgust, I had once been in that mindset myself; but I couldn’t help who I was fated to be with. I and a few of my closest commanding warriors settled it down and stopped a mutiny from happening, I brought Bru to a village meeting to explain the prophecy to everyone. It wasn’t an instantaneous fix, but it definitely helped in calming them down. And within a couple of days, the majority of the village was at peace with it. They weren’t happy, but they were accepting it.

At that point, I took to making sure Julia acclimated well with the tribal life, showing her around the village. I introduced her to many of the people, wanting her to know them and for them to know her. Kena, Tarik’s wife, actually seemed to take to Julia rather well—she even agreed to help make Julia some clothes she would be comfortable in, seeing as Julia didn’t exactly seem enthused that the women in our village wore dresses. So when I was away, tending to village matters, Kena taught Julia the basics of sewing and made her shorts and tops. Within a couple of weeks, life seemed to be actually looking up.

But then there was the matter of the humans. After Julia ditching them and joining my tribe, they had taken offense by it, thinking we had planned it all just to get my warriors back. While it would have been a brilliant plan, we certainly hadn’t planned it. Attacks were becoming more and more frequent, and while most of my men had healed and returned to their positions, we were still down by quite a lot because of lost lives in the explosions and amputees not being able to enter combat. We simply didn’t have the manpower to hold them off much longer.

After long talks with Julia, along with the warriors of my tribe, I realized that finding peace with the humans would be the only way to keep our tribe from being eventually wiped off the map. I also realized that attacking them and damaging their equipment would only postpone their destruction of Shaviro, not stop it. So no matter how much it pained me or the other warriors, we had to make a truce with the humans.

One morning, just after breakfast, a group of my men, Julia, and I met at the edge of the village to travel to Dracon’s tribe. We would go and talk about making an alliance with them, to gain numbers before going to discuss peace with the humans. I held Julia’s hand as we began our journey. As we walked, I couldn’t help but think of how much things had changed in the past month. I had gone from craving the blood of the humans, to mating with one, and wanting to seek peace with the rest. Dracon had gone from making me nauseous, to giving me hope for change. Julia was worth all the change. Something from within me, too, told me it was for the better; that if we would have kept on the path we were heading, then our village would have eventually been annihilated by the humans. Perhaps her being there to motivate me and push me towards making peace was what would keep my village going for generations to come.

We made it through the small patch of jungle which separated my tribe from Dracon’s. Before the humans had arrived, our tribes had been almost kin to one another. We freely exchanged goods and services, and went on hunts together. When the war started, we had made an alliance with Dracon’s people to protect one another. But when word had come back to me that he had mated with a human, I had cut all ties to his tribe. Now that times had changed and my outlook had changed, it was time to make an alliance again.

We made it through the village, people turning and staring at us. I hadn’t been there in two years. Just like most villages, not a lot had changed, I couldn’t spot a single difference. With Julia’s hand in mine, I walked to Dracon’s hut and gave a quick knock on the door. After a few moments, the door opened and before us was a petite female human with a pink baby on her hip. She looked over our group with confusion. “We’ve come to speak to Dracon and you,” I told her.

The woman paused before turning and calling into the hut. Dracon then came into view, an arm going around his human. His lilac eyes scanned over Julia and me, his gaze lingering at our hands. “What’s this about?” he asked, a bit of bitterness in his voice. I understood his disdain, we had once been good friends only for me to turn my back on him because he claimed a human—and now there I was at his door, doing the exact thing I disowned him for.

“I want to sit and speak with you and your wife,” I told him simply. “Things have changed, Dracon. I’ve changed. I just want you to hear me out.”

He stared at us, seeming to analyze and debate for a few long moments. “Fine. Go to the communal table and we will be there shortly.”

I gave a nod and then turned with them and headed to the long table in the middle of their village. Dracon’s tribe had always been a little more communal than ours, we never really ate together unless it was a special occasion or if someone had gotten a big kill. I walked with Julia towards the front of the table, wanting to be close to Dracon and his wife when we spoke. My men filled some of the empty spots among the table. My arm went around Julia, my hand rubbing her arm to try and keep her calm. She was silent, and the woman never was unless she was anxious or nervous. After being acclimated to my people, I knew it wasn’t them, but rather being around Navani that she didn’t know. Even within the tribes that sought out peace, there were still some that wanted all the humans dead—so her nervousness was comprehensible.

Dracon, his wife, and child joined us. They sat side by side at the head of the table, the baby in the woman’s lap. I couldn’t help but think if Julia’s and my future children would look similar to the baby. He had rosy skin with a fluffy tuft of hair on the top of his head. He chewed on his hand as he sat quietly in his mother’s lap. My eyes went back to Dracon. “So what is this about?” Dracon asked.

I sighed softly before finding my words to begin with. “I firstly want to apologize for cutting ties between our tribes. I know it wasn’t right of me now. But at the time, I was just completely devoured by my hatred for the humans. I mean just look at what they’ve done to our planet, and think of all the Navani bodies that are lying in the jungle somewhere in a mass grave. And—” Julia’s hand placed over my knee. I was going down a different path. Letting out a sigh, I tried to redirect myself. “The point of all of it is that I found out that Julia here is my fated mate. The prophecy which detailed yours and your wife’s love, we share it with you. Our shaman explained that it wasn’t exclusive just to one tribe.” Dracon’s brow creased at that, but he didn’t comment. “And after speaking with Julia about the humans and understanding the people we are actually fighting, I’ve decided to seek peace. It isn’t right to make a body count of humans who are fighting a war waged by their leaders. And I realize now that there is no way to win. They outnumber us ten to one. I would like to bring our alliance back and seek peace together. No tribe should have to go against this war alone, and I apologize for turning my back on you. I truly do.”

There was silence over the table, Dracon just staring at me as I spoke. The baby was the one to break the tension, cooing as he grabbed for the table. Dracon crossed his arms, “So let me get this straight. You cut ties to me and my tribe, basically damned me and my wife, but now that you have fallen for a human yourself, you expect me to just forgive all which has happened?”

I shook my head, “I know it isn’t that simple, Dracon. But you know how our people are and you know how strongly most of them feel about humans. And while a simple apology doesn’t right my wrongdoings, for the sake of our people, I would like us to make amends and work towards bringing peace to Shaviro.”

His wife looked to him then, her hand on his arm. Dracon’s eyes slid to her and looked over her and his son for a long moment. He then looked back to me, “Fine. I’ll set aside our differences in the sake of peace. But the moment you waver from the words you have just said, I will be the one to cut ties with your tribe,” he spoke sternly, his eyes not even blinking as he held eye contact with me.

I nodded my head, “Understood.”

Dracon was silent, looking over to his son before taking him and placing him in his own lap. He held the little boy carefully, the baby standing up and wobbling as he did. “Have you claimed her yet?” he asked.

I looked to Julia before my gaze shifting back to him, “Not yet.”

“Do that as soon as possible. It’ll show that you are serious about her being your mate, and more Navani people will be open to accepting you. It was the only way my tribe accepted Amelia,” Dracon explained. “We’ve been trying to organize a meeting with Harp’s leader, Lyle Grain, to speak to him about a treaty—but we can’t get ahold of him without going into the city.”

I thought for a moment, trying to think as to how I could assist with that. If it was a mission of peace, I couldn’t use my specialty of violence—that would send the wrong message. I looked over to him, “I could perhaps offer some assistance when it comes to that,” I began. Dracon raised a brow at me before I continued, “Julia was a hostage of ours, she’s a valuable asset to them in means of drilling. We could use her to draw them into a meeting, and perhaps use her to help discuss terms when it does come to extracting our resources,” I suggested.

Dracon contemplated for a moment, occupying his hands with bouncing their son. “Would Julia be alright with that?” he questioned, not looking up from his child.

My eyes fell to Julia, who looked up to me before looking in their direction, “I would be. Anything to help bring the war to an end. But if they want a meeting with me, they are going to want their drill site approved if they will even consider meeting with us or making any sort of treaty,” Julia spoke, her voice soft from the bit of intimidation from being around the new tribe.

Dracon made a bit of a face but then sighed. “We could discuss perhaps letting them have that one dig. Once they are done there, no more drilling. That way they get what they want, and then they leave the rest of our planet alone.”

“They should be able to make enough to keep Harp thriving for probably… forever,” Julia spoke up again. “They could actually agree to that.”

There was silence, realizing we actually had a chance of giving a proposal to the leaders of Harp that they would consider. Dracon nodded then, “Alright. Let me meet with my council of elders, and you all come back tomorrow. We will then have a solid plan, and if you guys come up with anything you can of course bring ideas to the table. We will then plan together as to when to go about these. Just make sure before we go about it, that you claim her and you two are officially a couple.”

I gave him a sharp nod. I then stood, pulling Julia’s arm with me gently. My men stood as well. “We will be back tomorrow at noon.” Dracon then stood, placing his son on his hip. I reached and grabbed his wrist, shaking it. Julia shook Amelia’s hand and then we all turned and walked back home. I was more than elated that Dracon had been willing to begin to forgive me for cutting ties with him in the name of peace. Perhaps we could truly find peace with the humans after all. We walked from the village, my hand around Julia’s, hope lifting my heart.